From The Press of Atlantic City, Voice of the People, a message from Mayor Janet Forman — The Aug. 7 editorial, “Free speech in Mullica/Bad law resurfaces,” has managed to alter a very complex issue that all towns grapple with, liability, into something it is not.

Like most Atlantic County towns and school districts, Mullica belongs to the Atlantic County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund, or JIF. Upon its recommendation and our municipal Safety Committee’s suggestion, we updated an existing ordinance to include a hold-harmless clause and clarified the application process. Towns spend a lot of time and energy keeping their liability at a minimum. Since when did that become such a bad idea?

For Committeemen Bernard Graebener and Michael St. Amour to transform this into a political debate diminishes the foundation of the JIF recommendation, which was to minimize liability and protect taxpayers. As Committeewoman Kathy Chasey expressed in a portion of her original, unedited Aug. 15 letter regarding safety vests, “As someone who has spent more time than anyone utilizing this unique form of meet and greet, I know firsthand the increased traffic over the last 14 years coming through the transfer station and on the roadway on whose edge we stand.”

Let us focus on the real issue and keep politics out of it. The longstanding tradition of greeting residents at the transfer station is not going anywhere. We will just be a bit more colorful in our safety vests.

JANET FORMAN

Mayor, Mullica Township

The original version of this article can be found at:
http://pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/letters/article_d007fc22-98c4-5193-ba96-290d551ca58a.html